


Twisted Fates

by AnxiousElfWalkingBy



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Angst, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-02-16 00:38:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18680563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousElfWalkingBy/pseuds/AnxiousElfWalkingBy
Summary: Sparked with carrying both Megatron’s and Optimus’s children, Ratchet is sent to Earth during the Cybertronian war without the two leaders knowing of the sparklings.He meets Charlie and Memo Watson in a moment of weakness, and is taken to their home for safety... All he can hope for now is that the sparklings don’t choose to be born now of all times.





	1. Crash land

**Author's Note:**

> I got this story idea like, yesterday, when I watched the Bumblebee movie (huzzah!) And it wouldn’t leave my head all night so hERE WE ARE writing stuff 
> 
> Hope you guys like it TvT

Ratchet hissed sharply, his spark pounding against his chest as he swiftly ran through the Hell of a battlefield. Mechs and femmes alike all scattered, dead, or still fighting to live another day. 

This wasn’t living.

He let out a shocked shout as he stumbled back, Starscream gave him a sickening grin as he aimed a missile towards him. His optics widened, and an arm flew over to cover his chassis — he shut his optics, waiting for the inevitable-

There was a  _ thud  _ and a shriek, Ratchet snapped his helm back to Starscream, who’d been flung away by none other than Bulkhead. The larger mech hurriedly lifted him on his feet.

“We need to get you to safety!” He yelled out, and Ratchet didn’t bother protesting. Normally he’d put up some sort of fight, insisting he could stay and help... but not this time. Not when he had something on the  _ line. _ His hand was grabbed by the wrecker as he was lead to the escape pods — and he felt himself pale. 

The escape pods, he’d have to leave his home planet and travel to a safer one… he shouldn’t leave, he can’t leave  _ them.  _ But did  _ they  _ even notice  _ him? _  He doubted they did, they were too busy- too busy to notice someone like him being taken away. Was it worth the risk just to talk to them?

… No. Absolutely not. And they never would be.

He felt his field darken, and Bulkhead looked over to check if he was okay — aside from the look of murderous intent, the Medic was physically fine. With that, they made it to the escape pod and Bulkhead rest his hands on Ratchet’s shoulders as he faced him fully.

“Ratchet, this’ll send you to a faraway planet called Earth — it’s got Energon, I’m sure, you’ll be safe-  _ promise  _ me you’ll let out a signal once you’re safely there.” He asked desperately, and Ratchet hesitated.

He’d been hoping to get time to himself — enough time for… this to happen. He swallowed thickly, and opened his mouth to answer. Only he never got the chance as he was suddenly shoved in the escape pod with a yelp, and the hatch closed. Before he knew it, it was flying off and out of the atmosphere. He screamed out Bulkhead’s name as he helplessly watched the mech take down five Eradicons at once… and he’d sent Ratchet off to keep him safe, while he stayed back to fight for his life.

_ ‘Pathetic.’  _ His mind whispered, curling around his body and spark.  _ ‘They’re fighting for the good of their home planet, and here you are… running away.’ _

_ ‘I  _ **_have_ ** _ to, and you know why.’ _

The cruel thoughts seemed to draw back at that, leaving him alone in the silence of space. Ratchet swallowed thickly as he stared down at his chassis… he raised a hand and rubbed it gently, all he could do was hope.

As the planet drew further and further away, Ratchet could see Arcee, Ultra Magnus, Wheeljack, and Cliffjumper battling ferociously against the Decepticons… and in the middle of it all, Megatron and Optimus.

The cold in the pit of his spark suddenly dropped, latching onto him and tugging away any comforting thoughts he could’ve given himself prior. Chased away, hiding the sun with dark clouds and storms. Ratchet inhaled sharply as he leaned back to rest on the seat — he looked to his reflection. An expression of disdain looked back, and it slowly morphed into disgust.

_ ‘You did this…’  _ he thought as his attention shifted to the destroyed planet.  _ ‘This is all your fault.’ _

Those were the only thoughts of comfort as Ratchet curled into a tight ball, struggling to find sleep in the lonely pod… all he could think about, was a pair of strong arms holding him close.

Which arms…? If only Ratchet could answer that question.

********

* * *

 

Charlie was under her broken car, as per usual, and working on some repairs it needed- and by some she meant a shit load. It was just another day for her, if anything, though  _ today  _ was a special sort of day which she couldn’t wait to begin.

Her anniversary with Memo — little nerd decided they had to start the anniversary in the same hour Charlie had first proposed to him. 

She already felt a fond smile perk up on her lips at this. He was a dork, but honestly so was she if she actually agreed to do this with him. He was a ray of awkward sunshine in her life, and she couldn’t picture what she’d be like with anyone else… Lord  _ forbid  _ she had to be with someone else. Memo was the one for her, through and through.

“Guess what  _ I  _ made~!” A familiar voice called out from beside the car, and Charlie grinned as she gripped the side of the vehicle and pulled herself out. Memo was there, in a much cleaner state than she was.

The smell of fresh pancakes wafted into the garage, and Charlie felt her grin widen. “Oh, however will I figure it out… may I get a hint?” She said as she leaned close to him, then gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she rushed to take a shower, leaving the poor man as a sputtering mess.

Upon returning, the pancakes were still ever fresh and Memo was waiting by the table. He gave her an excited grin and lead her towards it, as he sat down next to her.

Charlie resisted the urge to burst into laughter at seeing her fumbling husband try to please her. She’d be happy even if he’d served burnt  _ soup  _ for all she cared, though she was certain he’d never see the light of day if this particular day was ruined in any way. And for five years, every day on this day was a good day — good weather, good luck, and many more smiles to share between the two of them.

“So,” Memo cleared his throat as he ate the last bite of his pancakes. “I’ve been thinking recently — like,  _ really thinking,  _ and these pictures keep popping in my mind, right?” He stuttered out, Charlie gave him time to gather his thoughts.

Seeing she was quiet, Memo grew more confidence to speak. “Everyday, every night, and… well, we’ve been together for five years- haha… five…” she could see he was trying not to grin like a fool — his childlike excitement only had her grinning just as hard. “And- Ah, that’s a long time, y’know? And I’ve never been happier and… but recently I’ve been thinking- and wondering and and- and you don’t have to agree, remember that, I’m happy with how we are-!”

“Memo,” She said exasperated, still grinning. “Just say it.”

He paused, fiddling with the fork a little — gears turning in his head as he tried to think of a suitable response.

“I’ve been thinking…” he started again. “About… a family, Charlie.”

She stopped grinning, and stared at Memo with wide eyes. At catching her expression, the guy panicked.

“Well like- not right  _ now  _ I’m just- and I’d be happy with adopting, too! Any kid is a good kid between us- the fact that it’d be  _ our  _ kid is all that matters but- I mean if you aren’t ready or don’t want any kids I completely underst-“

He was cut off when a pair of lips practically slammed against his own. His eyes widened, but instinctively slid them shut as he softly kissed back. Charlie cradled his head in her hands, as if the smallest of pressure would shatter him, while Memo’s hands loosely wrapped around her waist. 

Once she leaned back, Memo blinked rapidly and shook his head, looking a little dazed. “Is… is that-?”

_ “Yes,”  _ she whispered out longingly, hugging the man close to her chest. “To have a family with you- with  _ you…  _ who wouldn’t want that?”

Memo let out a large huff of relief as he pressed against her chest with closed eyes. “Thank God… you scared me for a moment there.” 

Charlie snorted, scratching her husband’s scalp as her eyes drifted to the clock. “I don’t know about giving birth, yet… but adopting is on the table for me.”

“Of course, Charlie! I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

She huffed out another laugh, heart swelling inside her with happiness and love, ready to  _ burst  _ right out of her. How could one man make her feel so much in so little time? He was truly a miracle in her life. 

“Well, let’s wash up and head to the beach, I believe an anniversary is waiting for us.”

Memo wasted no time in cleaning up the plates.

 

* * *

 

The trip itself to the beach was fairly uneventful, just Memo and Charlie holding hands and occasionally giving each other a comforting squeeze. The beach tended to be quite empty, considering the small neighbourhood… which was the only place near enough to actually go to this beach. Other people would have to drive a good hour, and that just wasn’t worth the trip when there were other closer beaches.

And, as this day was full of luck, the beach was  _ empty  _ save for the two of them. They may as well own this beach, it felt like a luxury to be the only ones here. 

They spread the towels and laid down, Charlie rolling over to rest her head on Memo’s chest — the steady beat bringing her comfort, as Memo’s hands gently combed through her messy hair. The sun was beating down on them, but with the suncream, Charlie was hardly bothered by it.

They were both close to drifting off. 

Normally people would spend their anniversary going to restaurants or wanting to impress their love interests… these two? No, just… peace and quiet. Moments to themselves. Resting under the sun, just hugging. Something they didn’t normally do as one or the other would be busy with something.

There was a light breeze that Charlie appreciated, the sun getting a little  _ too  _ warm for her liking. 

She woke up with a start, Memo was shaking her and yelling — she barely got a moment to comprehend what was happening as Memo grabbed whatever clothes were nearest, as well as her hand, and shot away from the beach. Charlie could only follow, bewildered and dazed. She looked over her shoulder in hopes of finding what Memo was freaking out about — her stomach dropped.

What looked like a  **_meteor_ ** was heading their way, and the feeling in her sleepy legs forced itself to work as she ran faster.

They went up the hill path, and it was mere moments after they made it to the top that the meteor crashed into the ocean water. Far too close to the shore for her liking, and as she watched the waves push into their sleeping spot, taking the towels and other belongings with them. 

That was hardly Charlie’s concern, as she stared at the meteorite with a strange fascination. It wasn’t a rock, definitely not. It looked like some sort of…  _ machine.  _

Letting go of Memo, Charlie rushed back down the hill — ignoring her husband’s calls — and sprinted towards the sea. She wasted no time in jumping in and swimming towards it. Memo wasn’t that far behind, and was yelling at her to come back… they both knew she wouldn’t.

Finally making it to the pod, Charlie gripped onto it and tried to look inside — it was frosted, dusty, tinted… impossible to look through. With a huff, she pounded her fists against it, trying to activate the strange machine.

Except she wasn’t expecting it to actually  _ work.  _ The glass of the pod shifted, sliding to the side and opening the entrance. Memo had just made it, and was just about ready to grab Charlie and swim back to the shore. Only for him to let out a shriek as he hid behind his wife, a hand gripping the edge of the pod’s entrance as it helped pull out a figure. Their mouths dropped.

A white, red striped looking robot dragged its feet out of the pod. The water rippled and splashed under its feet, and it forced itself towards the shore. Every step looked like it took too much strength from it, and it had already fallen on its knees by the time it left the water.

Memo kept his hold on Charlie tight and locked.

“God- what  _ is  _ that?” He whispered to her, horrified. Charlie didn’t respond and instead watched curiously as the creature tried to lift itself up, and actively failing to.

“It’s hurt.” She said, then looked up at Memo, her expression morphing to that of a kicked puppy. “Memo…”

He knew exactly what that look meant. Had seen it multiple times with kittens and puppies they’d find on the street — they brought them home to help them recover before sending them to homes willing to adopt them. Except those were Earth creatures, this thing was downright an  _ alien.  _

He wanted to say no, tried to, but after looking at Charlie, then towards the helpless robot, and back at her… he melted. He rubbed his face in frustration.

“God… why do I even try.”

The light that shone in her eyes was worth it, it seemed, and she wasted no time to running towards the being. It froze at hearing the sudden splashes, and whipped its head around, icy blue eyes piercing through them both. The machine whined and tried to crawl away, Charlie hurriedly dropped to its side.

“Hey…” she whispered, raising her hands up in defence. “Hey…” she said again, gently. “I’m… I’m Charlie, I won’t hurt you.” 

The bot didn’t seem any less afraid, but it also wasn’t trying to run away anymore. So that had to count for something. Memo finally made it to Charlie’s side and offered his own peace. Charlie swallowed, and tried to take a step closer — the robot instantly tensed and she had to comfort it again.

“No, no, hey… I’m not going to hurt you.”

The bot wasn’t that much bigger than them — even if it was fairly huge in comparison to that of the average human. If Charlie was on Memo’s shoulders they’d probably be able to reach the bot’s chest.

“Do you… have a name?” She asked gently, as she slowly rest her hand on the robot’s arm. The bot looked down at the small hand, then back at her — his form getting weaker and weaker by the second.

“... Ratchet.” The robot whispered, and Charlie’s eyes widened, not quite expecting the bot to speak in  _ English  _ of all languages. Memo behind her wasn’t faring much better, but he hadn’t broke into his hysteria just yet, so that was something.

“Ratchet.” She repeated, then rubbed the arm soothingly. “Ratchet… we need you to walk a bit, can you do that?”

Leaving this robot out in the open was a horrible idea, who knows who would find it. They’d need to bring it home where it could rest peacefully. She knelt near its drooping eyes. “We have a place you can rest in… it’s better if no one sees you.”

She couldn’t understand how she was so remarkably  _ calm  _ for what this situation was. Maybe it was the sympathy she felt for it, maybe it was the weak form… but one thing was for certain. When she looked into those eyes, she saw no malicious intent. She couldn’t place it, couldn’t  _ describe  _ how she knew, just that this robot wouldn’t hurt anyone. Memo was still panicking.

“We’re really bringing an alien robot we just met three minutes ago to our home?” He asked in a whisper, and Charlie rolled her eyes.

“It’s either we bring it home and keep it safe, or leave it here and wait for it to be found while it can barely stand on its own.”

“...”

Memo frowned, brows creasing slightly as he looked back at the weak creature. Charlie saw this and gave him a quick kiss. 

“Hey,” she said. “Just for a bit, okay?”

“... Okay.”

She took a deep breath, and turned back to the robot. “Now… how to take you home without getting attention?”

That in itself raised a bunch of issues, considering they lived in village where houses were  _ very  _ close to each other, and while their house was more isolated, they would still need to get through the other homes in order to make it there.

“Well,” she huffed. “Shit.”

 


	2. I’ll need a Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ratchet awakens in the garage after a strange dream — or, rather, a memory. 
> 
> Once remembering how he ended up in the garage, Ratchet needs to find Energon before he can no longer stay in disguise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t think of a chapter title OTL maybe yall could help me lol
> 
> Anywasy I hope you enjoy uwu

_ Ratchet had a soft smile perked on his faceplates, staring up at the large mech who was returning the gaze… he raised a servo, and brushed the knuckles gently against Ratchet’s faceplates. The servos had enough strength to crush his helm at an instant, yet Ratchet raised his own to hold it in place — complete trust. Because he knew. _

_ Lips pressed against his own, and Ratchet sighed into them, pressing back with just as much gentleness. A mouth that shared words beyond what one could simply imagine, one that swayed bots to their side. One that could change the heart of a mech or femme simply by allowing words to flow out like a river — entering the open ocean and tangling with the rest. He still kissed this dangerous mouth, because he knew. _

_ He leaned back, staring into those stunning optics as his spark fluttered lightly. Dangerous optics that could pierce through anyone, bring them down, terrify them, make them doubt their own worth… but he continued to stare into them, because he knew. _

_ “Ratchet.” Said the voice, whispering in his audio fins — a shudder shook his frame, and the larger mech chuckled deeply. He’d spoken just one word, but that was enough to grab Ratchet’s attention… the tone, the way he spoke. One would do well to ignore such an enchanting voice… but Ratchet continued to listen, because he knew. _

_ He leaned against the mech’s chassis, listening to the steady ‘thump’ of his spark. A wonderful noise, it produced such warmth it coursed through Ratchet’s entire frame at an instant… a spark like no other, with sick intentions that Ratchet was aware of and despised… this spark created a beast, a beast ready to tear apart its enemies limb from limb, but Ratchet stayed… because he knew. _

_ The arms wrapped around his waist and hoisted him into the air, and Ratchet barely tried to hold himself onto the mech, knowing he wouldn’t fall. The arms could snap him in half at any moment, nothing was stopping them from doing so… But Ratchet didn’t struggle, because he knew. _

_ He knew Megatron wouldn’t hurt him. _

 

* * *

 

Ratchet woke with a start, a sharp gasp as he sat up. He breathed heavily as he snapped his helm from side to side, trying to gather his surroundings… he was in a small room, barely enough space for him to be able to stand at full height. It was moments like these Ratchet appreciated his ‘smaller than average for Mechs’ stature.

He leaned against the wall, hand already to his chassis as he rubbed it absentmindedly. How did he get here again? He was in the escape pod one minute, and then…

He closed his optics, struggling to remember the entire journey… even still, Ratchet focused his memory and tried to restore the missing data.

_ ‘Ah…’  _ he thought. _ ‘That’s right.’ _

 

* * *

 

_ “Well, shit.” the girl had muttered under her breath, though Ratchet had barely heard her. He was hardly able to keep his optics open, much less try to understand what exactly this thing was saying. _

_ What… even was it? She — he assumed it was a she — said that she wasn’t going to hurt him, and normally Ratchet could afford to be suspicious and try to make a run for it. This wasn’t the case right now. _

_ If the girl had shelter she could offer, he’d absolutely take the offer and try to regain strength — it wasn’t just  _ **_his_ ** _ strength he had to worry about, after all.  _

_ “Can… can you try and walk a bit?” She asked him, still holding onto his arm as if that would help at all. She felt as delicate as a twig, and honestly, for a second, Ratchet was more concerned over the possibility of squishing her than making it to this shelter. _

_ Still, he took a deep breath and forced himself on his pedes — they wobbled, weak and unused for however long he’d been in stasis lock. He took one step, and almost tripped over his own pedes — he’d latched onto a nearby tree, keeping himself upright and steady. _

_ Well, if that wasn’t humiliating, Ratchet didn’t know what was. _

_ “Alright!” She clapped her hands, rushing up next to him. “Alright, it’s a five minute walk from here to there, we just might need to take a longer way around to keep you hidden.” _

_ Ratchet didn’t argue with that. _

_ The ‘five minute walk’ would turn to roughly seven if they took the longer path… it took them  _ **_twenty five_ ** _ minutes to actually get Ratchet  _ **_near_ ** _ the village. He scowled at his own weakness, but knew deep down it was because his spark energy was getting sapped by a certain someone, and with the lack of Energon fuel, it was only a matter of time before his systems began to fail and shut down. _

_ “See that?” ‘Charlie’ pointed ahead, and Ratchet blearily eyed the distant house… decently sized, at the very least he might be able to squeeze in and shuffle somewhere safe. “That’s our home, we have a garage you could stay in — more room, less stuff to break.” _

_ Ratchet didn’t say anything, but appreciated the generosity. Memo hurried back, he’d gone and checked if the coast was clear, and murmured something to Charlie’s ear. Charlie frowned. _

_ “I guess we have to go the even longer way around…” she sighed, then turned back to Ratchet. “We can enter the house through the backyard, highly unlikely anyone will see you from the village that way — are you good with walking for a few more minutes?” _

_ Well, he didn’t exactly have a choice. _

_ He nodded slowly, and Charlie offered an encouraging smile. It helped, a little, and Ratchet forced himself to move further — and he had to give himself a pat on the back for managing to make it as far as this “backyard” without tripping over. _

_ Though, of course, he jinxed himself. _

_ The second he touched this strange greenery upon entering the backyard, his leg failed him and he was sent tumbling down. He twisted his body so he didn’t land on his front, and instead fell to his side. Charlie yelped at the sudden noise, and hurried over to him. She was saying… something, Ratchet couldn’t quite make it out. He was rapidly losing energy, and he wasn’t sure for how much longer he could force himself to move like this. _

_ He had… to rest his optics… for a moment… _

_ “...on..! You’re close…!” _

_ Startled, Ratchet opened his optics again, Charlie was right in front of him. Concern filling her eyes, she was speaking right into his audio fin. _

_ “Come on, Ratchet! Just a little more, and then you can rest!” _

_ He knew he had to get up, he couldn’t stay out in the open like this — and the garage was undoubtedly close now, he just had to…  _

_ With a grunt, Ratchet pushed himself up again, though, embarrassingly enough, could only manage to get on all fours. Charlie praised his efforts, then tried to pull him in the house — luckily the entrance was through these windows that could slide open, leaving the gap wide enough for his frame to fit through. _

_ The floor creaked under his weight, which had his faceplates heating up. He was considered fairly light weight in Cybertron, and while he knew there was no reason to feel ashamed or embarrassed at this noise — especially considering these creatures are so much smaller — his programming insisted there was something he had to be ashamed about…  _

_ Upon realising that, out of context, the ‘issue’ was what was inside him, he shut the coding down instantly and focused on getting to the garage. It was barely a minute worth of weak crawling, and as soon as Ratchet squeezed in, he settled to a corner of the room and proceeded to pass out curled up against the wall before he could hear Charlie’s question. _

 

* * *

 

He snorted, he was still low on fuel, but that recharge certainly worked wonders. His gaze lowered to his chassis, and after making sure he was truly alone, he opened up the spark chamber.

The light blue glow lit up the dark room, and Ratchet felt a wobbly smile slide onto his face. His spark pulsed, as any spark should — if a little dully thanks to his low Energon fuel… and in it…

His optics widened.

Not one small spark, but  _ two. _

He had  _ twins.  _ Last time he checked his chamber was roughly a week ago, and he’d only noticed the one — both sparks were practically undetectable, and he couldn’t get another pair of eyes. That would lead to questions of who the site was, just the mere fact that Ratchet was capable of carrying would raise a bundle of questions that he didn't need to answer. It was a rare concept now, being able to carry… the war has caused their programming to shut down the idea of bringing new sparks to their world. There was no point, it was too much of a risk with too many downsides. He couldn’t risk it.

However, this also explained why he felt so weak, he wasn’t reserving and intaking fuel for two sparks, but  _ three.  _

Upon closer inspection, Ratchet realised that these twins wouldn’t be of identical design and/or plating, the twin sparks were too far apart for that. Identical twins would be touching each other, and fraternal would practically be on opposite ends. 

Knowing the sires, Ratchet begged to Primus and back that they’d take after his own carrier and sire instead. They were much more different compared to those two, and the last thing Ratchet needed was the chaos that would undoubtedly arise if the sparklings resembled those two bots..

He himself took after his carrier’s colouring, but his sire’s bulkier frame type. His carrier, Swiftlight, was an incredibly slim femme, and the doorwings on her back gave off this illusion of being a seeker — she often got confused as such, considering her beauty. His carrier, however, was quite dense and childish. She didn’t exactly  _ notice  _ these bewilderments and never really properly answered questions on her alt mode because she believed it was obvious or the questions were a joke. 

Truly, a dense femme if you’d ever met one. Ratchet couldn’t understand how he was related to her.

Meanwhile, his sire, Geartide, was a serious mech, grouchy and quite a typical warrior class Cybertronian. Though gruff, he was always gentle and sweet to Ratchet and Swiftlight. He looked nothing like them, though Ratchet took after his type, he still held a type of slenderness to him. Geartide was very much  _ full out  _ bulk, and while this wasn’t a trait that would let you stand out in a crowd of fighters, his yellow colouring certainly was. Such a playful colour for a mech that had to be one of the grumpiest bots Ratchet had the pleasure of knowing. It was honestly a little amusing at times.

He wondered what they would think of his sparklings if they took after them at all… though, learning that may prove to be a little difficult.

Ratchet didn’t even know if they were still  _ alive.  _ They’d been separated early on in the war, and hadn’t seen each other since then. His hopes of seeing them again were dimming by the day.

Shaking away the depressing thoughts, he shifted his attention back on the sparks, and he reached a single digit inside — not quite touching, but trying to feel the sparklings’ presence. It was small, but there…

_ ‘Two weeks…’  _ he thought, then let out a huff.  _ ‘Four weeks left, then.’ _

He’s never been sparked before and certainly didn’t want to be sparked in a situation like this. Therefore his knowledge on sparkling care was limited,  _ but  _ he had managed to study a handful of datapads, and even got to experience the progress of a bot’s spark birth once. Though that was a phenomenon that occurred many, many years ago... At the same time, he couldn’t wait to see these sparklings walking around… the fact that he had twins? They’d be able to spend time together and grow with someone their age. There was a war out there, and the only thing Ratchet wanted — begged for, even — was that these sparklings lived a relatively happy and safe life.

He wondered, for just a moment, if it was worth sending out an Autobot signal. He loved his friends dearly, and the thought of never seeing them again ached his spark… But a protective surge overran the longing, the desire to be near the sires, his friends. He wanted to see them, but what he  _ needed _ was his sparklings being safe and living happy lives, even if that meant they’d never see their own kind aside from Ratchet. That would never be possible if he brought Autobots here, because the more Autobots came, the more likely it was for Decepticons to find him.

_ ‘Frag that.’ _ he scowled, snapping the chamber shut as he curled into a tighter ball.  _ ‘They’d better expect to see their blasters shoved up their afts if they think they’ll get anywhere  _ **_near_ ** _ my sparklings.’ _

With a  _ ‘humph! _ ’ Ratchet shut his optics, and slowly drifted off.

 

* * *

 

Honestly, Memo had believed the entire thing was a dream. He woke up to his wife sleeping, and drooling, adorably as usual, and decided to get up and start on breakfast. Simple waffles this time, and a lot of syrup — just how Charlie liked it.

Setting the plates, Memo washed up his hands and moved around the kitchen and dining area in order to get everything ready for his wife. He glanced up at the door that lead to the garage for a moment, and stopped walking.

It…  _ had  _ been a dream, right? It must’ve been, it was so  _ bizarre  _ that they’d just up and bring a twelve or something foot robot in their home. So there was no reason to feel suspicious.

But, well… it didn’t hurt to  _ check  _ right? If he didn’t it’d just be on his mind until Charlie entered the garage herself, and if she was as unexpecting as he was, it would undoubtedly give her a fright if she saw-

If… she saw the robot that they definitely didn’t bring home and definitely doesn’t exist.

With a sudden surge of confidence, Memo strut towards the garage entryway and swiftly opened the door-

He yelled and stumbled back, and the robot sprung to life as it turned to stare at him with wide eyes. He naturally returned the expression — how Charlie was still asleep, he didn’t know.

“God- you’re  _ real.” _

The robot appeared a little offended, and gave Memo an unimpressed look. Memo swallowed heavily as he stood up on shaky legs, still staring at it.

“S-Sorry, ah… just wasn’t actually expecting- I thought it was-“ he stopped, realising he’d only dig himself further into a grave. He shook his head. “Anyway… I don’t think I introduced myself.” He walked towards the robot and extended a hand. “Memo Watson, pleasure.”

Ratchet — he just remembered the robot was called Ratchet — eyed his hand strangely, then carefully extended a single finger to him, which was a good idea on Ratchet’s part as even the finger was barely small enough for Memo to wrap his hand around.

A silence settled between them as Memo shook the finger, then slowly retracting his hand. Ratchet gave him a blank stare, and Memo found himself at a loss for words. “So…” he said, coughing into his arm. “Do you… want waffles?”

Ratchet appeared confused by the question, and Memo hurriedly left the room for a minute, and returned with a plate of waffles just moments later. Ratchet didn’t look any  _ less  _ confused.

“This is food, we eat it.” He tilted his head. “Don’t you… eat?”

“Of course we eat.”

Memo really  _ did  _ scream then, dropping the plate of waffles — there was a series of thuds and curses above, and next thing he knew was Charlie was by the doorway with a wrench in her hand.

“WHO THE  _ FUCK-“ _

“Sorry- Sorry!” Memo waved his hands quickly, trying to get Charlie to calm down. “I’m so sorry that was me- I got- Ratchet scared me for a second-!”

He really had. Memo had completely forgotten the robot could  _ speak.  _ Which was silly, how else would he know the robot’s name is Ratchet? He sighed and knelt down, cleaning up the waffles and carefully picking up the small, shattered pieces of the plate. Charlie grunted and headed towards him to help, she glanced up at the robot.

“So, what did I miss?”

“Not much, learned its species can eat.” 

_ “It?!”  _ The robot snarled, and the two humans jumped a little. Ratchet glared at them both. “I am not an  _ it,  _ I am a  _ mech.” _

“M… mech… right.” Memo nodded, looking lost. “Yeah, that… what does that mean? Are you a boy or a girl- you’re a boy, right?”

“What’s a… boy?”

A moment of silence, Memo breathed in deeply and gave the rest of the pieces to Charlie — who took them to the bin.

“It’s… a guy? Male? He him pronouns?”

At that, Ratchet made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth, and he nodded carefully. “Yes, then… I am a boy.” 

Just then, a warning message popped up in his processor. His Energon fuel was lowering — and while normally this percentage wouldn’t exactly tire him out excessively, this wasn’t a particularly normal situation. He needed to be kept above 90% with his fuel if he was carrying — if he wanted his sparklings to be alive or healthy. 

Main problem was you couldn’t  _ transform  _ into your alt mode when carrying into the third week, because that was when the sparklings gained a physical form. The transforming code would be blocked off as it would more than likely crush the sparklings with all that shifting — sparklings in chambers can’t transform  _ with  _ you to accommodate that form, after all.

Which meant that he had one week to find enough Energon to last him the four remaining weeks.

“So like…” he was shaken out of his thoughts as he stared down at Charlie, who’d just returned. “Where are… where are you  _ from,  _ exactly?”

Ratchet scoffed, like frag was he answering that. He shakingly stood on his legs, needing to crouch a little to avoid the ceiling. Charlie jumped at his shifting, and hurriedly rushes to his side.

“Hey- Wait, where are you going?”

“To find Energon.” He growled, shaking his leg to shove Charlie away. “I don’t have time for your questions.”

“You can’t just  _ walk out!” _

“Really now?” He scoffed again, crossing his arms. “And what’s  _ stopping  _ me?”

“Don’t you remember anything I said yesterday?” She huffed, glaring at him. “Humans can’t just see you walking around, they’ll call the police on you! Then they’ll take you away to scientists and probably experiment on you or something!”

Ratchet paled at the mention of ‘experiment’. A servo flew to his chassis, almost protectively, and he didn’t notice how Memo eyed the movement curiously. 

“You’d… do that?”

Charlie frowned, then eyes widened as she waved her arms around defensively. “Well- not  _ me _ or Memo- just that… some people just panic or get scared when they see something they don’t understand…” she said gently, then walked up to Ratchet again, placing her small hand on his plating. “Memo and I won’t, but you can’t show yourself in front of others — at the moment, we’re the only ones you can trust.”

_ “Trust.”  _ He replied coldly, feeling repulsion in his very spark. “I can’t  _ trust  _ someone I just met.”

“You trusted us enough to bring you to our home.” She countered, and Ratchet fell silent at that. He wanted to say that he didn’t have a choice, it was for the safety of the sparklings — but he couldn’t,  _ wouldn’t.  _ As far as the ‘humans’ were concerned, he wasn’t sparked and therefore didn’t have a clear weakness.

He huffed, then shifted his plates. Memo yanked Charlie away from the robot, they both gasped as the robot transformed into… what strongly resembled an ambulance. Charlie stared cluelessly, rubbed her eyes, and continued to stare. She and Memo were both at a loss for words, and they jolted once the door opened.

“I’ll need a tour,” Ratchet’s voice could still be heard, even in this altered form. “And considering you have a vehicle in here, it’s safe to assume this form of mine will be acceptable?”

“I…” Charlie choked on her spit, Memo took over talking for her as she was a little busy.

“You can… transform?”

“Of course I can, now are you getting in or not?”

“Hell fucking  _ yeah.” _ Charlie felt a wild grin on her face grow, and she wasted no time in sprinting inside. She patted the seat next to her, and Memo groaned. He stepped to the side in order to open the garage door, before he entered the ambulance — once the door shut, Ratchet wasted no time in driving off towards the beach he’d landed in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please share your thoughts, thank you for reading!


	3. Why him?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ratchet scavenges for Energon, hoping to find enough before he runs out of time...
> 
> We get a little insight on what Optimus and Megatron feel about the situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reeeeeee I’m not sure about how this chapter turned out but let’s damn well hope it’s decent 
> 
> Please enjoy!!! ;0

_ “Optimus.” He heard himself murmur breathlessly, gripping tightly onto the Prime’s arms. The mech stood above him, staring down with a soft gaze. Well meaning, kind optics, their bright glow the definition of purity. _

_ Ratchet had never felt so  _ **_undeserving_ ** _ to a pair of optics in his life.  _

_ “Ratchet.” The Prime finally responded with a sigh, leaning down to press his helm against Ratchet’s. “Why won’t you take care of yourself…” _

_ Another day where Ratchet had almost shut down during work because he’d offered to take the night shift — despite being finished with his actual shift, and needing to finish his own papers. Which he had managed to do, naturally… at the expense of his health. Even if his medical expertise saved a mech’s spark. Safe to say, Optimus wasn’t pleased when he’d visited a still working medic in Ratchet’s home.  _

_ “I try,” he insisted, even if that was a flat out lie. Sure, he’d take care of his most basic needs when they were in critical condition, but wouldn’t waste anymore time after that. “I just get… absorbed in my work.” _

_ “Let me help you, old friend.” Optimus sighed, his arm wrapping around Ratchet’s waist and lifting him up, leaving the medic sprawled onto his lap on the berth. “I can’t bare to see you like this.” _

_ Ratchet’s frown deepened, and he turned away from the Prime. He felt guilty for upsetting him, even though he spared a family the spark break they might’ve faced if a medic like Fuse had taken the night shift instead. Ratchet didn’t understand how that bot was a medic, rich family or no. _

_ A servo gently held his chin, and guided him back to those optics. Those too kind optics that Ratchet felt filthy just looking at. Concern and worry filled Optimus’s field, with a small hint of… Lo- _

_ Ratchet shut the thought down. _

_ The digits stroked his faceplate, and Ratchet felt himself shudder under the touch. Optimus was the very embodiment of everything good, and Ratchet was being touched by such a beautiful creature. He didn’t deserve this. Didn’t deserve any of this… especially when he was playing with the Prime’s spark like this. _

_ “Rest.” He whispered, hugging the medic close to him. Ratchet’s optics burned as he buried his face in the mech’s chassis. The gentle yet powerful drumming of the spark warmed him… yet guilted him, too. There was another spark he’d hear, another he’d stay this close to, another that would warm him in this way… _

_ He didn’t deserve him. He didn’t deserve either of them… _

_ The guilt was tearing him apart, inside out as he continued to listen to the sweet, steady rhythm produced by the gentle spark.  _

_ ‘I don’t deserve you.’ His thoughts whispered. ‘This’ll only end in spark break… pull away, kick him out, or stop running back to the other… stop being so selfish… _

**_‘Pick one.’_ **

_ Ratchet ignored these thoughts, and drifted off into a recharge, resting in one of the safest pair of arms Cybertron could offer. _

 

* * *

 

Ratchet snapped away from his thoughts, suddenly aware of his surroundings. His processor had decided this had to be the perfect time to drift off into the past. 

_ ‘Slagging fragger.’  _ Was all he could bring himself to think of during the still startled moment of coming back to the real world. He’d been lucky that he hadn’t been shocked enough to start swerving left and right on the road. Charlie and Memo were still seated inside him.

“I really hope no one questions us driving an ambulance.” Charlie snorted, hands on the wheel — though Ratchet begrudgingly let her drive, he didn’t particularly enjoyed being touched with these fleshy hands. “I mean, I’m sure I can come up with some random lie about why we have an ambulance when we aren’t paramedics, but, y’know.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to go to the beach?” Memo asked, ignoring the majority of what Charlie had said as he let the breeze hit his face. “A lot of people are gonna be there to check it out, and the area may also soon be taken by the government — if it hasn’t already.”

“Why would you humans go to an area that has the potential of being dangerous?” He asked with a hint of frustration, unable to understand this Primus forsaken race.

“We’re naturally curious, wouldn’t you be?”

Well, perhaps. It depended on the situation. If there was a reasonable chance of  _ death  _ Ratchet would probably walk the other way. Unless, of course, someone needed him.

“Let’s hope it’s empty, then.”

They’d only driven a single  _ minute  _ after that conversation before Ratchet stopped driving — slag. The humans had been right, the area was compromised and very,  _ very  _ much full of people. Ratchet felt a growl rip from his throat, and Charlie huffed.

“What’s so important about the pod, anyway?”

“I was hoping to check that it had Energon stored inside, which isn’t common to do with an old model like that one — but on the off chance it  _ did- _ “

“The fuck’s Energon?” She raised a brow. “You mentioned it earlier, but didn’t really explain.”

Ratchet was quiet for a moment, he looked back at the pod and attempted to scan it from the distance — he didn’t pick up on any fuel. He sighed, then reversed the vehicle as he quietly drove into the forest-y patch. They’d be better hidden by trees, there. If humans really did freak out upon the slightest abnormality, then Ratchet couldn’t take risks on how far their technology is advanced, either.

“Where are we going?”

“Here.” Ratchet stopped driving after he deemed it was far enough away from civilisation. He opened his doors, indicating for the pair to exit. 

They looked at each other, then Ratchet, before hesitantly leaving the vehicle. Once they did, Ratchet transformed back to his bi-pedal mode and knelt down, before his optics lit up to show a hologram to the two humans. “This is Energon at its purest form.” 

Raw, but bright crystals in many different shapes and sizes. Charlie and Memo looked amazed by what they were looking at.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Charlie whispered, reaching out to touch the hologram — only for it to fizzle and let her hand go right through, as if it wasn’t actually there.

Which it wasn’t.

“These are just pictures.” He scoffed. “Not the real thing… but, this is what I’m  _ looking  _ for.” The hologram changed to a cube of sorts. “I need to find the Energon and process it into a cube, this is what I eat, what I need to survive.”

“What makes you think this planet has any of those… Energon thingies?” Charlie tilted her head, still fascinated by the hologram. “Isn’t that purely a robot thing?”

“Wh- We are not  _ robots.”  _ Ratchet snarled. “We’re an advanced, high tech species called Cybertronians,  _ robots  _ is a derogatory term!”

Robots didn’t have  _ feelings.  _ Robots couldn’t think for  _ themselves.  _ Robots weren’t  _ free.  _

Charlie raised her hands in defence and murmured an apology, not wanting to offend him further. Ratchet glared at her, then stood up as he turned off his holograms. 

“I don’t know if they’re on your planet, my fr-“ he stopped, then cleared his throat as he turned his helm to the side. “A fellow… Cybertronian said that it’d be highly unlikely there wouldn’t be.”

Bulkhead’s happy grin flashed through his processor. A cruel image upon realising Ratchet had decided against signalling for Autobots to come to Earth.  _ It was for the best, _ he kept telling himself.  _ The sparklings wouldn’t be safe in this war. _

He swallowed heavily.

“Anyway…” Ratchet breathed in deeply as he stood up, looking around the area. “I wish to remain here and search, they’d be most commonly found in caves — do you have any caves in this area?”

“I… maybe?” Memo frowned, wracking his memory. “We’ve never really ventured too far into this forest, so there might be, and there might not be.”

“Well,” Ratchet scoffed as he headed onwards. “Pardon me as I go on a little Energon scavenger hunt.”

The humans didn’t get a chance to speak, Ratchet had already headed off to find those crystals. Memo looked at Charlie just as she turned to look at him, both were frowning.

“We aren’t letting him go alone.” Charlie shook her head, already going to follow after him. “We can’t stop him if he really needs this fuel, but he doesn’t seem to understand Earth customs either, I understand if you want to stay home and relax-“

“And leave you with some advanced alien race, which would make us the first humans on Earth to make contact with them and possibly earn their friendship?” Memo’s nerdy side surpassed his initial fear as he grabbed Charlie’s hand and lead the way to the Cybertronian. “Yeah, sure, I’ll just stay home and pretend this isn’t the coolest thing ever.”

Charlie fondly rolled her eyes. Her husband had to be the biggest dork in history.

 

* * *

 

Optimus stared down at all the datapads, not exactly reading them, and not too keen on putting them away either. His processor was running wild but scarily empty at the same time. He shouldn’t be this worried, there were so many other bots out there that they had to meet up with and find, so many other bots out there that might be in danger — or being killed as he sat here.

So many others… but they weren’t  _ Ratchet. _

He’d hoped he could catch one last glimpse of the skilled medic during the fight — it was a selfish wish, too selfish for his job as leader. He just wanted to make sure the bot had at least left safely…

But he didn’t know where Ratchet had ended up, and he hadn’t sent out a signal — so either he hadn’t reached his location yet, or he was-

He didn’t dare finish the thought.

_ At least one  _ of the Autobots had to know where he was, though they’d all been separated as they sent themselves to different locations. He eyed the control panel on the ship he’d managed to escape in, the scanners weren’t picking anything up… he felt lonely. 

“Ratchet.” He let out a weak whisper, as he gently slid his optics shut and thought about the medic. Bright, almost teal optics, a will to help, to heal. As any medibot would… but Ratchet’s optics held something more  _ genuine  _ than that. Optimus was certain that, even if Ratchet  _ wasn’t  _ a medibot, he’d still try to heal those who need healing.

The sweet, teal optics were replaced by cold, and hard red ones. Optimus kept his composure best he could, but his frame was shaking. Anger, jealousy,  _ disappointment.  _

_ ‘Why, Ratchet?’  _ He lowered his helm, spark aching and hurting.  _ ‘Why would you go to him?’ _

 

* * *

 

Megatron was in a foul mood, anyone could tell that much. What else was new? 

Just the fact that this foul mood didn’t come with the whole ‘I’ll destroy anyone in sight’ effect. Starscream wasn’t outwardly complaining, but he also found this bothersome and frustrating. Their leader was distracted and it was affecting the work. 

Megatron himself was pacing back and forth, hands behind his back as he grumbled under his breath. Whispers of death threats being caught in Starscream’s audio frequency, and he shifted his attention to Knock Out.

“Whatever has him this foul, it’s more than likely to be the Autobots.” the seeker claimed, quick to put the blame on the enemy. “A lot of them got away, naturally he’d be a little frustrated.”

“A little?” Knock Out raised a ridge, almost scoffing at the statement. “He’s been pacing back and forth for the past mega cycle, and since he hasn’t even  _ killed  _ anyone yet, I’d imagine this is more than just the Autobots.”

Megatron only heard a small part of that conversation, but even then his pacing didn’t cease. He was restless, irritated, with only  _ one  _ specific bot. He would’ve bared his denta if it wasn’t for his pride not wanting to show he was seriously being affected by this. Though, the pacing was speaking volumes in itself.

He was furious. Enraged. Disappointed and just plain  _ angry.  _

_ That fragger.  _ He almost snarled, fists tightening.  _ He should’ve picked- he should’ve picked  _ **_me._ ** _ If he wasn’t in the battlefield, and he isn’t here now, then he must’ve gone with the Autobots- with  _ **_Prime._ **

It hurt to even  _ think  _ about. To know that Ratchet was out there with Optimus — why did he go to  _ Optimus? _

Just the mere idea of Optimus holding Ratchet did things to his spark he couldn’t even begin to comprehend. He’d seen it before, watched it unfold with his own very optics — and at first, he was content with that, because at least  _ he  _ got to do the same.

But it kept happening. Kept repeating over and over… they’d have their time, then Ratchet would run off to do the  _ exact same  _ with Optimus. And when he’d demanded for Ratchet to choose between the two, the coward up and  _ fled.  _ His blood boiled, and he finally allowed himself to snarl into the empty space.

“He’s definitely lost it.” Starscream signed, then leaned back against the wall as he crossed his arms. “Primus have mercy on whatever soul specifically did this to him.”

Knock Out didn’t respond to that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaa I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you continue to enjoy the story !! ;0;


	4. Energon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Memo find some Energon ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pardon how long it took to update, I had no idea how to write this chapter out exactly.
> 
> Hope you enjoy regardless :,)

Ratchet sighed for the twentieth time as he heard the human couple slipped and tumbled along the wet path. Charlie had a preference to yell curses while Memo just made noises of discomfort. It was getting ridiculous.

“If humans aren’t equipped to handle things like this,” he started, already growing increasingly more frustrated. “Pray tell,  _ why  _ you thought following me was a good idea?”

“Because you’re an alien,” Memo yelped as he barely caught himself on the wall, then grunted as he attempted to balance himself on wobbly feet. “If that isn’t a good enough reason to stay with you, I don’t know what is.”

“Says the guy who was freaking out the first time we met Ratchet and  _ insisted  _ on leaving him alone.” Charlie rolled her eyes as she flicked a bit of mud off her boots. Memo squawked.

“I did not  _ insist!  _ I was more scared whether he was a good or bad alien- if he was bad and laid eggs in our bodies-!”

“Do you seriously believe aliens like that exist?” Charlie scrunched up her face. “Like, seriously, why must they rely on other creatures to keep eggs alive?”

“Seahorses do it.”

“That’s different!”

“Do you two ever stop talking?” Ratchet snapped at the pair, and they instantly shut up. He sighed again, forcing himself to calm down before he did something he’d regret. 

He didn’t have any scanners, so he’d have to rely on primal instinct to find Energon crystals. Thankfully, that’s where being sparked came in handy, as it increased such instincts and made it easier to sense Energon. His servo kept coming back to his chassis, rubbing it absentmindedly as he let the quiet keep him calm.

Of course, the silence could only last for so long.

“SHIT-!”

Charlie slipped again, Ratchet resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. 

“So like,” Memo started his questions again as he helped Charlie up. “Does every world out there speak in English or was this just an extremely convenient encounter.”

“My race doesn’t speak  _ English.”  _ He scoffed. “We’re just advanced enough to be able to detect a foreign language and translate it on the spot — verbal scan, if you will.”

“That…” Memo pursed his lips. “That’s the coolest thing ever- so you could basically learn  _ any  _ language?”

“So long as I hear it, and it’s not a dead language.”

Memo was going to ask another question, only for him to get cut off as Ratchet let out a pained yell. The Cybertronian fell to one knee, clutching at his chest — the humans wasted no time in sliding over to him.

“Ratchet!” One of them- both of them- yelled, he couldn’t remember which. They crowded in front of him, panicking at the sight of his scrunched face. 

They paused, staring down at his chest — a glow was pulsing, it looked uneven, unsteady. Charlie paled.

“Please don’t tell me that’s- is that your heart?!”

“Not-“ He grit his denta as he barely managed to choke his words out. “Not exactly-“

“What does ‘not exactly’ mean?!” 

He ignored their shouts, and instead focused on taking deep, steady breaths. Warning messages flashed through him, and he duly acknowledged them. If he didn’t find Energon soon…

He snarled, hot flashes spreading across his chassis as though it was trying to melt itself. He pushed through the pain and ignored the humans’ cries. He wasn’t about to let these small sparks die out now, not because of him.  _ Never  _ because of him.

_ Energon levels: 15%. Critical.  _ **_Refuel immediately._ **

He would’ve rolled his optics if he wasn’t fighting to keep them from offlining. It was five far too long minutes of agony as the warning messages practically took up his entire screen, and he continued to dismiss them. Five minutes… before his sensors began to sharply ring. Spark tugging him to take a left, and he snapped his helm to the side — optics wide and hungry as he tried to stand on wobbly pedes. He barely moved three steps before collapsing again.

“Ratchet!” Charlie yelled at him, lightly hitting his metallic form to grab his attention. “Is some of that Energon stuff there?! We’ll get it for you- just stay still! You’re hurting yourself!”

She wasn’t expecting for Ratchet to listen to her. He groaned and forced himself to sit up, leaning back against the cave wall. His optics were dimming, and he tried to curl into a ball — putting a type of wall or block between the twins to keep the other from being absorbed.

A blessing and a curse with split spark twins, if Energon was too low then one of the twins would attempt to absorb the other’s energy to stay alive. Ratchet couldn’t allow that, for then he’d have murdered his own sparkling.

The humans rushed past him, climbing through the wet and muddy walls and eventually following the bright glow of a crystal.

They hadn’t expected it to be this  _ big.  _

Half of it was lodged in the wall, God it was practically the size of a  _ bed.  _ Charlie swallowed thickly as she wrapped her arms around it and attempted to pull alongside Memo. When that was proving to be inefficient, Memo wasted no time in digging around the wall in hopes of making room to pull the crystal out of the wall.

Hearing Ratchet’s pained yells only made them work even more frantically, and as soon as she felt the crystal loosen up, she pressed a foot against the wall and pulled with all of her might. 

She was sweating and panting as the crystal was finally out, and Memo gave her an apologetic look as he held the crystal and ran back to Ratchet, telling Charlie to rest.

The second he felt the presence of a crystal, Ratchet’s optics snapped open. He sat up properly, hungrily eyeing the crystal as he reached out for it. Memo handed it over, and Ratchet sank his denta in instantly.

It was raw, indigestible, so Ratchet had to process it the old fashioned way.

He would’ve liked to warn Memo to look away as it wasn’t a pleasant sight, but there simply wasn’t any time.

Keeping the crystals in his mouth, unused heating fans whirled to life. He grimaced as the foul taste in his mouth expanded, anytime it felt as if it would overheat his mouth, he relaxed his jaw and allowed for the steam to leave. 

Too much time. This old fashioned way of processing always took  _ too much time.  _ He didn’t  _ have  _ that time to spare, especially considering how low the quality of Energon was, it wasn’t even worth the wait.

Finally melting it, he swallowed the uncomfortably warm Energon with a grimace. Foul, warm, burnt the back of his throat and not in a good way. He shuddered, wanting to heave it back out — only for the sparklings to flash through his mind.

He took a deep breath, and repeated the process with the rest of the crystal. 

Watching his expressions with concern, Memo frowned. It wasn’t a pleasant sight in general, but he ignored the disturbed flicker and instead waited for Ratchet to finish. It took him long enough that Charlie had eventually dragged herself back to the pair, and she gave Memo a look once she saw Ratchet, as if her husband would have any idea on what to say about this.

Once finished, Ratchet gave another involuntary shiver as he checked his fuel levels.

_ Energon levels: 20%. Refuel immediately. _

All of that for a measly 13% of Energon fuel. He’d dropped to a threatening 7% by the time the crystal was brought to him, so seeing such little improvement had him worried.

Not only was the Energon low quality, but he wasn’t sure if this cave would generally have enough to last him some weeks. Primus forbid the low quality does something to these small sparks.

He grunted, forcing himself back up and using the cave walls as support.

“Let’s go.” He whispered, already too tired to say anything else. He was about to take a step, only for Charlie to rest her hand on his ped. Ratchet looked down, surprised. 

“You stay.” She said, frown deepening. “I think it’d… be safer for you.”

“And you’d barely be able to get Energon crystals out of the Earth-“

“We took one out,” she glared, standing her ground. “I doubt the others are any harder — just tell us which way has more.”

He stared at them, as if considering whether to listen to them or not.

When he felt a pulse in his chamber, he sighed and slid down the wall. 

“Alright.” He said, too tired to argue. “Alright, just…” he sighed. “Where you found the crystal you gave me? Further down, I’m sure I sensed some…”

They both nodded, then hurried out. Ratchet rest his head on the wall behind him with a ‘clank’. This was not a situation any bot would appreciate being in, or would want to face, but… his optics dimmed to conserve power, once again resting a serve against his chassis. 

_ ‘You little ones are going to cause me a great deal of trouble, aren’t you?’  _ He grunted, then tucked his knees up to keep his body as protected as he could manage.  _ ‘Just like your sire… typical.’ _

He didn’t really know specifically  _ who  _ the sire was. He just knew it was either Optimus, or Megatron… so for now, he just titled them both as the sires until the colours showed and body armour — albeit, he’d have to make sure to alter the paint in case they looked too similar.

For he didn’t know how long he had until he was found.

 

* * *

 

“It’s so  _ muddy.”  _ Memo grimaced, trying to keep up with Charlie as she swiftly climbed the wall. “If I slip and die, it’s your fault.”

Charlie rolled her eyes, ignoring the whines emitting from her husband as she continued to climb. There was a small opening high up, near the ceiling, that Ratchet certainly wouldn’t be able to fit through.

She grunted as she finally grasped onto one more firm rock in the wall and pulled herself up. Charlie was panting by the end of this, and she had to crawl in order to fit through the hole… what she was expecting to see? Probably an empty sight, maybe a few of those weird crystals lodged into the wall, scattered around. 

What she actually saw?

“Oh my God.” Charlie’s has dropped as her eyes welcomed the sight of  _ dozens of hundreds  _ of crystals in the cave. Was… was she delusional? Was she actually seeing this? She couldn’t be, there was no way these crystals were just  _ laying around  _ and sitting there this entire time. They filled the walls, ceiling, and almost entirely the floor. This was basically a  _ feast  _ for Ratchet!

“Charlie?” Her husband called out from the lower part of the cave, and she hurriedly crawled back over to peek through the hole — Memo had apparently given up on climbing. “Do you see anything?”

“Uh…” Charlie looked over her shoulder, then back at Memo. “A lot of things.”

“Good things?”

“Memo I found an entire  _ army  _ over here-“

“What?!” Memo gaped. “An army?! Are they alive-?!”

“What- no!” She snorted. “I found a  _ lot  _ of those crystal things! Stay down there, I’ll grab em and drop them over.”

“What- Wait, Charlie!”

She ignored him and rushed back to the other side, before dropping down to a conveniently empty patch of dirt. Unlike the crystal they’d found earlier, not all the crystals were that deeply dug in.

She grabbed the nearest one — it seemed to be a pretty average size — and she dug around the dirt to smoothly slide it out. Her hands were completely filthy, but she didn’t care, she was used to dirty hands after all.

Charlie grunted as she shoved the crystal — Energon, was it? — back into the hole she’d come from, then pushed it out the other end.

“Look out below!” She shouted out to Memo, before dropping the crystal sideways. She chuckled at Memo’s shriek of fright, before looking over and grinning down at him. Memo did not share the expression and instead offered a nasty glare.

“Thanks for making sure I wouldn’t  _ die.” _

“Get that to Ratchet, I’ll grab a few more!”

Memo grumbled as he picked up the crystal and dragged it over to Ratchet’s position — which took him roughly ten minutes of dragging. How Charlie picked this up on her own he’d never understand.

Ratchet wasn’t too bad by the time he returned to his side, and Memo quickly offered the Energon. The Cybertronian mumbled words of gratitude as he sank his teeth in and ate again. Memo raised a brow.

“How much is this fuelling you, exactly?”

Ratchet let out a huff after he swallowed the warm liquid, rubbing his mouth and licking his fingers of any remains.

“Considering it’s not being properly processed, very, very little.”

Memo pursed his lips. “Processed? How do you process them?”

“Machine,” he answered vaguely. “One that I’m certain you don’t have here.”

“Can… you build one?” He asked meekly. As far as Charlie was concerned, this robotic creature should have the knowledge to rebuild anything from their home since their brains were most likely computers. “Can we help?”

“Probably, and no.”

The answer was direct, blunt, and Memo felt as awkward as one would get after an answer like that.

“Um… okay- uh-“

Charlie’s voice called out to him from far out, and Memo wasted no time to turn his heel and run towards her. He saw that she’d brought down three more Energon crystals, and he hurriedly helped her with them. Both of them had an Energon crystal each, and they carried the third together.

By the time they returned to Ratchet, they were sweating, panting, and a filthy mess. Ratchet seemed to be quite surprised at seeing the amount, and he was still in the middle of eating the first one he’d been given.

“I hadn’t realised there was more.” He murmured, and Charlie snorted.

“Dude, there’s an entire house worth of those crystals over there — you’ve got plenty.”

Ratchet, though relieved somewhat at hearing there was a decent amount of Energon crystals left, he still couldn’t help but feel concerned. Would it really be enough? His own reserves sapped so quickly, and the fuel he gained back was hardly worth each Energon Crystal.

A sigh escaped him, and he glanced at the humans as they began their own bickering — Memo being concerned over Charlie’s hands, Charlie wiping her hands on his shirt which had him yelling. They seemed completely fine, and willing to help him when need be.

Really, what are the chances?

Ratchet leaned his helm back and his optics shuttered softly in thought.

He could only wonder what those two were up to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. Wonder how this’ll go.
> 
> Hopefully the next chapter will have some more,,, sparkling moments :3
> 
> I can’t wait for the babies to arrive they’re gonna be the cutest things

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment on your thoughts! I’d love to know what’s good and what I can improve on ^^


End file.
